The Diagnosis by Alan Lightman

The Diagnosis Reviews

• 
  Dennis Littrell

  A novel of despair and dark humor
  
  This is a novel about the numbing of our lives. What is our disease? We don't know. What is the cure? There is no cure.
  
  Is this the price we pay for the guilt we feel for never being man enough? How is it that we fail in the midst of success? We are sick, but what is the disease? What is the diagnosis? Where is the pain? It is not physical. We feel it in our minds and in our souls. We are tired, weary. We know the prognosis--it is death, of course--but what is the cause?
  
  In this tortured comédie noire, Professsor Alan Lightman gives us his vision of the materialistic horror that is our lives, the information and subsistence overload that is suffocating us to death. Bill Chalmers, second level management cog, begins to unravel. First his memory goes, and then is recovered, but then the numbness sets in, in his fingers, his legs. And it advances. We watch as he fills up with bile, bile, everything is bile.
  
  We are angry, but like Bill Chalmers we cannot lash out. We are married to the corporation, as Chalmers is to Plymouth where he "processes information." We do not learn that he does anything more specific. It doesn't matter what the information is. He processes it. The company's motto is "The maximum information in the minimum time." The vagueness of the content of their information mirrors the emptiness of our lives. More information for what? Faster for what? To what end? We do not know.
  
  The doctors, who would diagnosis us, Lightman assures us, are like gleeful clowns in their vast ignorance, playing with their high tech toys, a cyclotron for PET scans, a "cell separator...like a portable washing machine...," spinning dials and writing articles for the Annals of Psychosomatic Disease, comparing notes with colleagues over the Internet, by cell phone. Meanwhile the patient is but a curiosity, a subject for examination and study.
  
  Lightman uses the empty dialogue of our lives for comedic effect. We say nothing to one another and we answer with nothing, although sometimes we cry out, and life goes on. Chalmers's wife is numbing herself with alcohol while she conducts a bloodless affair by e-mail. Like Chalmers and his wife, we are estranged from life itself. "He hated the mall the same way he hated himself, except that he hated himself more because he was a part of the mall and he knew it" (pp. 343-344). Yes, the mall and our vast hunger to consume are symptoms of our disease.
  
  Chalmers is angry (as his shrink Dr. Kripke so astutely discerns, although that is all he discerns). Chalmers cries out in his mind: "I'm going to break every machine on this planet...I'm going to rip the phones out of the wall" (p. 303, no exclamation marks). But he never has and he never will, and that is "the problem" that has become "an illness."
  
  How real is Lightman's "diagnosis" of our society? Consider this, the fastest growing class of disease in this country is autoimmune disease, e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, etc., diseases of unclear cause in which the body is apparently assaulting itself. (Compare Lightman's delineation on p. 274).
  
  Juxtaposed among the pages is a tale of the last days of Socrates and of one of the men who condemned him. Somehow Anytus, the ancient Greek, and Chalmers, the American, are brothers in their strange failure amid the trappings of worldly success. Anytus killed Socrates, the flower of Grecian civilization. Chalmers is killing himself. Why? Again, they do not know. We have a stupendous wealth of information, but all of it is useless, as Mrs. Stumm, the wife of one of the information executives, tells Chalmers as she waves a hand at a stack of papers, "What is this crap?...Useless. This stuff is useless." (p. 255). She speaks the truth, but they cannot hear it.
  
  Lightman's art owes something to the imagination of Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun, in the latter chapters, and something to the spirit of Joseph Heller's Catch-22 throughout. There are shades and echos of the black humor of Evelyn Waugh and Nathanael West. This is a fine novel with a strong sense of the spiritual emptiness of our corporate existence. One senses that Lightman feels that in love there is a flicker of hope, but that is all. The mind goes, like the mind of Chalmers's mother, and with it, the possibility of love. Or perhaps there is a moment of redemption in the intense experience of the minutia of our lives, as when Chalmers studies and lovingly draws the leaf he sees outside his bedroom window. Only this and nothing more interrupts the bleak and lonely landscape of Lightman's vision.
  
  --Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
• 
  Brenda

  The description of this book is somewhat misleading. Even the way it begins is misleading. It starts off great, and it's even hard to put down because it doesn't lag in introducing the plot or characters. The dilemma of this man losing his memory was what reeled me in to begin with.
  
  As the main character is trying to desperately find a diagnosis for his illness, the story still has some good moments. I think it was a few pages before half-way through the book when I realized that it wasn't going anywhere. And like most other people said, the rest was just torture reading. It was slow and psychologically exhausting to read about a man whose life is just spiraling down a terrible road and you go page after page hoping for a glint of hope for a solution but there is none.
  
  I was very upset when I finished reading the book, and I wouldn't recommend it. Personally, the message I got from it was that people in our society don't slow down to enjoy the little things and that they're blind to the life happening around them. But I think a book can deliver this message without being so dull and depressing. Once I finished reading the last page I really couldn't believe there wasn't more to it. It felt as if the book was just cut halfway through. There was no closure.
  
  I can tell the author attempted to make the characters human and easy to relate to. But they actually weren't. All the characters seemed to have deep-rooted mental issues and the worst part of it, is that they just barely touched them on the surface. There was no explanation to anything. It was all questions and no answers. I don't suggest anyone waste their time on this book!
• 
  Diane

  PAINFUL. It was basically about a guy who was just getting sicker and sicker and then making dumb decisions. Many pages were spent describing his work days, with things like 'and then I got an e-mail from so and so, and I was frustrated because I thought this person might be trying to usurp my spot in the company. Or maybe not.' Spending a day at work is boring enough. I don't need to hear a blow-by-blow of someone else's. Also, I just didn't like the character. The guy was an idiot. He wasn't very nice or smart, and it was hard to feel for him in his situation. Not worth reading.
• 
  Nicole

  This book was more than painful to finish. It started off as an interesting medical foray about a man who is on the train to work when he suddenly loses his memory as to who he is, where he is going, etc. After seeking medical attention, his memory does come back but he is left with numbing of his hands which greatly affects his ability to function at work. His job seems to be litttle more than pushing paper, emails, and phone calls around for numerous business clients. His wife is distant and fustrated as he attempts to navigate through the medical community to find a diagnosis for his mysterious illness which involves progression of the numbness. It seems to be a commentary on the slow decline of our society, how we are caught up as mere cogs in wheel, however, Lightman does little to make this journey enjoyable to read. None of the characters are interesting, you as the reader are just as fustrated as Bill Chalmers the main character, and it is s struggle to finish the mightly 350+ page tomb. Would not recommend anyone attempt to read this unless you don't mind slow torture.
• 
  Mela

  I'll give you a diagnosis, alright. You have suckitis.
• 
  Lori

  Initially I thought this book had potential and that it was not only going to be an examination of how technology disconnects us socially and spiritually but I incorrectly assumed that it would also be an exploration of what constitutes human consciousness. First impressions are often incorrect.
  
  I understand what Lightman was attemtping to accomplish and his writing style was chosen to reflect the points he was making about technology, the speed of life, disintegrating societies filled with cold-hearted selfish apathetic people who are bland and uninteresting even in their quest to uncover the mysteries and reveal some sort of truth, but occasional bursts of beautiful prose weren't enough to carry this story.
  
  The characters were devoid of any layered human characteristics and even though he's making a point about humanity, by the 21st century, having reached a point of being a sea of robots just going through the motions it doesn't jive. No one is that one-dimensional and this wasn't a fairytale where applying basic archetypes would've worked.
  
  It drove me nuts how every single email correspondence had typos in it. Even the ones by the professionals. None of these characters would use spellcheck?
  
  The book started with a bang and ended with a whimper. Intentional? If it was I don't even care because the lack of consistency throughout the novel had me sluggishly struggling and skimming through huge sections I felt clogged the plot and should've been cut out in editing. In the end it didn't matter because none of the originally posed questions were answered or even thoughtfully left dangling for the reader to come to his/her own conclusions about what actually happened or if any of it really mattered.
  
  This is a reminder to me that if an author I don't like praises a book chances are I won't like the author he/she is lauding.
  
  It's not a terrible book but I would definitely not recommend it.
• 
  Alison

  Oof. I had high hopes for this because the first chapter or two really pulls you in. But honestly, you can read the first little bit and the last little bit and get the gist of things just fine. I really didn't like the interspersed philosophy bits although I understand why they were there I guess. None of the characters were particularly likeable except for Gerty, their dog.
• 
  Ari

  I hated every single thing about this book. I only finished it so I could honorably give it one star. I admit I skimmed the last few chapters because I was beginning to feel like killing myself. I wanted the protagonist to die. He never did anything. Everything happened to him. The story may as well been about a wad of gum. Every character was an asshole. Finishing this book was like waiting for something you hate to die. Imagine one aspect or characteristic of a book that would make you not like it. Now imagine if one book had 100 of those things. You name it. Dialogue. Characters. Plot. Paragraph structure. Formatting. All terrible. It almost made me never want to read ever again. Okay I think I’m done.
• 
  david

  "Young man?"
  "Yes, doctor."
  "One day you will die."
  "Thank you, Doctor."
  "You are welcome. You can pay the receptionist now."
• 
  Kevin

  An American caught up in our healthcare system by way of Kafka.
• 
  Luola Chen

  too many loose ends and the storytelling just felt very disjointed... i am very disappointed :(
• 
  El

  Bill Chalmers marks his days by knowing where specifically he is to be what time. Meetings, appointments, time allotted for e-mails and phone calls, family, etc. So when Bill suffers a severe memory loss on his commute to work one day his life is forever altered. He eventually remembers his purpose, but only after being taken to the hospital under humiliating circumstances. The return of his memory does not mark the return of his health; in fact his health deteriorates from that point on - first in numbness in his extremities, then his inability to walk or have any control over his motor skills, and down the spiral he goes. He spends a significant amount of time visiting doctors, none of whom are able to shine any light on what has caused his illness; as is typical he is asked to see a psychiatrist as it is insinuated that perhaps his illness and his deteriorating physicality is really all just in his mind and if he just learns how to control his anger...
  
  Alan Lightman does a great job at describing this character's frustrations, from spending time with incompetent receptionists in doctors' offices to the doctors themselves not shedding any light on the issues to watching his family and his job fall apart as quickly as does his body. It is a horrifying story and one that makes one latch on to what is truly important as this man on the page loses absolutely everything.
  
  Not as powerful as Lightman's previous Einstein's Dreams but then if he wrote everything exactly the same where would be the sport in that? I have read complaints primarily about the lack of resolution in the end and I have no sympathy for those with this complaint. Very rarely is there resolution in real life and debilitating illness is a frightening thing, particularly when there is no diagnosis. Granted this is not an uplifting book, and it hurts to see how each of the characters is affected by Bill's illness; but it is well-written and intense and pretty accurate as far as sickness goes, both of the mind and the body.
  
  My only real complaint is the amount of typos in the e-mail sequences. My brain exploded in just about every sentence during those pages and it baffles me that such educated people (doctors, lawyers) are unable to write a complete sentence without several typos. Working with doctors myself I know how they write e-mails (generally on the fly), but I also know they put a lot more time and effort into those that go to their patients. Or they have their secretary fix those mistakes before they hit Send. More importantly, however, is the fact that most doctors do not communicate with their patients via e-mail. And the fact that the doctor in this book did really irked me.
• 
  Christine

  Loved it. I read the Amazon reviews to see that most people didn't like or understand this book. I've had the good fortune of speaking with/interviewing the author, and I know what his recurring themes are and how he hopes to execute them, so I did not have a problem figuring out what he was trying to do. Also, there are paragraphs in this book that are just so beautifully written they took my breath away. Did not give it 5 stars because I hardly ever do that, and there were moments I felt I was slogging. But on the whole, I thought it was grand.
• 
  Ruth

  I actually listened to this on tape. I buy used tapes so don't always have much selection. Picked this becausese I tend to be fascinated by things medical. I kept listening in hopes of a resolution. Btween the first tape and the last I suffered through a major Slough of Bad Writing.
  
  
• 
  Robert

  Well, it gathered steam and I enjoyed the ending (no spoilers). there are some messages therein, but also a literary exercise, I think, and that's not too much fun.
  "I'm not as f***ed as those people!" Whew!
• 
  Jodi

  The concept of a mystery illness intrigued me. When he first started to struggle and lost his memory on his way to work, I was appalled at how the people around him treated him. I could understand the strangers on a subway being a tad leery of a stranger seeming to have mental illness but why didn't someone call for him to be helped? I didn't like how the one officer made fun of him, and the doctors running unauthorized, unapproved tests on him just to try out new equipment was horrible!
  
  Bill's wife was selfish and only thought of how his illness affected her. Ugh! It was so unfair that his workplace fired him Granted, he was struggling to do his job but he should have been given some support first before just being fired.
  
  I also hated how the doctors just pushed him along and never really seemed to help him. He was just sent to all kinds of specialists but was given no answers. I completely understand how frustrating this can be.
  
  The ending of this book was awful! It was like the author had met his page requirement for the book and just stopped. I was hoping for the book to go somewhere.....a diagnosis, a cure, happiness with life, fulfillment, acceptance..........anything.
  
  The story within the book through his son was just annoying to me.....again....page requirement filler?
• 
  Kristen

  Not a winner, folks.
  
  The main character, Bill Chalmers, loses his memory one wild day while on the subway commuting to work. When his memory returns, a strange numbness afflicts him, starting in his hands and feet and slowly inching up his arms and legs to his heart and mind. He loses his job in the process, and the doctors and specialists cannot find a diagnosis. The hopelessness of the situation is a big fat bummer.
  
  I can appreciate the author’s attempt at capturing the spiritual poverty and technological nightmare of the modern world. But so many aspects of the writing interfered with the narrative. Lightman’s choice of melodramatic verbs deadpanned my emotional interest in the story. Fax machines squealed and screeched. Stomachs churned and rumbled. People darted, swooned, slumped and twitched. The world was “bent on self-suffocation.” And all the characters seemed to be constantly dabbing at their faces and arm pits with tissues. Whether the hyperbole was intentional or just bad writing, it didn’t work. I never sympathized with the characters or started another chapter with eagerness. The story lacked redemption or hope, perhaps intentionally, but to my chagrin.
• 
  Sophie Coker

  It's a shame, the concept of this book seemed so interesting to me. A man, living his typical life, suddenly loses his memory and starts acting crazy. The Diagnosis follows him and his road to find a diagnosis for his case. I'm not sure what I was expecting from the book. The parts I most enjoyed were the ones where Bill was caught in his illness; on the subway, starting to lose feeling in his limbs, that kind of thing. Though Lightman does a good job of giving descriptive details as to Bill's state, I felt like I never knew enough. I wish I knew more about what the doctors were doing to test Bill behind the scenes. Perhaps even seeing more of Alex's life away from home would have given the novel more *pizzaz.* There were a couple chapters about 'Anytus' that felt extremely out of place in comparison to the rest of the book. I found myself losing interest in the entire concept after Bill got fired; it felt redundant from there. The ending wasn't satisfying at all and didn't match the great beginning it had. Lightman's writing style is very sophisticated, so I would say this isn't the best choice for anyone under a high school age.
• 
  Andrew Dooley

  This was a fine novel. It was best when it operated on a time crunch; or, rather, when the narrator was imposing a time crunch upon himself. I felt genuine stress in these parts that really fueled my desire to keep reading. There was also an incredibly lovely moment towards the end that rendered insane amounts of nostalgia within me that I’ll never forget.
  
  This reminded me a lot of The Crying of Lot 49, and throughout the novel, I knew and expected to be left with no answers, no narrative resolution; I knew that we were going to watch this man’s degeneration and that it wouldn’t be satisfying, and I knew that was the point. I also knew that the unlikability of the majority of the characters was also the point. But I didn’t love it. I’m not sure why, I just didn’t love it. It was certainly well done for what it was doing and trying to accomplish; the statement it makes about the American Healthcare System is true, and obvious, but I was asking myself, reading this 20 years after release, “okay, and?” It felt like old news to me, so maybe that’s part of the disconnect.
  
• 
  Alexa

  I can't do it. Oh my god I cannot finish this book. The first like 40 pages were actually so engaging, but it quickly falls away into such a boring, pointless book that is unbearable to care about. It feels like the author put too many page-fillers, making me so much less excited to read every word because so few words have value. I also just don't understand why every single person in this book makes constantly horrendous typos regardless of what their profession is. It makes no sense for people to be making all these typos. Maybe the secret as to why all these typos exist is at the end of this book, but I'll never find out. Holy fuck, I had to just throw this book down after 200 some pages. Just make it stop.
• 
  Frank

  I thoroughly enjoyed the first third of this book and then loved the last few pages, but most of the center of the novel left me unimpressed. I wasn't really clear on what the point of the book was, I spent too much time thinking, "Okay, let's move this along," and I became rather impatient with the characters. I'd greatly enjoyed "Einstein's Dreams" many years ago, but this one left me mostly frustrated.
• 
  Simona Vesela

  It is a story about one man's struggle with a mysterious illness. Some books make out sickness idealistic and romantic story of the ill character. This is not such a story, it is mostly the opposite. I sometimes feel the bitterness and the hatred if I encounter pain or embarrassment. Now what if those negative experiences did not go away? Could one handle it?
  
  There are bunch of weird things in this book, like the Socrates subplot or the Internet in 2000.
• 
  Carol

  So depressing...I did not get the additional Socrates parts...maybe I'm just ignorant. I was reminded very slightly of Egger's the Circle due to the portrayal of technology's interference in our lives...but from a much earlier time. The emails were kind of annoying. I don't know about you but I still try to spell correctly in emails...
• 
  Jennifer

  The first few chapters had some arresting and haunting imagery --- a man loses his mind --- has his brain just vanished? How would the medical community react? But the novel quickly devolves into something far less mystical or evocative, without picking up a narrative thread to make up for the increasing flatness of imagery. Did not hold together.